Bob Strauss

Staff Writer

Recent articles

Movies & TV

Nothing can stop the Furious.“Furious 7,” the latest entry in Universal Studios’ supercharged car movie franchise, opens this week to insane expectations that it could very well leave in the dust. A nine-figure opening weekend is predicted for the newest chapter in the series, which has been growing in popularity since “Tokyo Drift” registered the lowest “Fast and Furious” box-office performance in 2006.Episodes four, five and...

Movies & TV

“Jauja” makes no sense — but that’s not because we mere viewers are dumb. Director and co-writer Lisandro Alonso reportedly doesn’t know what his films are about either.Of course, he could just be messing with us. And like the surreal short stories of fellow Argentine Jorge Luis Borges, Alonso’s puzzling pictures are rich with haunting images and intriguing inferences.This one takes place in 1870s Patagonia (though it’s real...

Movies & TV

If someone told Naomi Watts to lighten up, she apparently said OK. But she did it on her own terms.The actress who has nailed multiple shades of extreme trauma in the likes of “Mulholland Drive,” “The Ring,” “21 Grams,” “The Impossible” and many more has been going for laughs lately. Last fall, we saw her as a pregnant Russian stripper in “St. Vincent” and an actress fighting with her boyfriend/co-star through...

Movies & TV

Two things Theo James really likes: California and trying to tell the best story possible.The first itch is pretty easy to scratch. The outdoors-loving Englishman co-stars in one of the more successful young-adult movie franchises of the moment, the “Divergent” series, which means lots of work visits to Hollywood and extra days spent exploring the Golden State.“I still live in England, but I spend a good bit of time here,” says James, 30, during an...

Anniversaries

Universal City celebrated its grand opening on March 15, 1915. Something like 20,000 members of the public responded to studio head Carl Laemmle’s invitation to visit his new studio at the north end of Cahuenga Pass that day to check out the fancy administration building, open air stages and bleachers on which, until the advent of sound filmmaking a decade later, they were welcome to come back and watch real movies getting made.Over the ensuing century, the former 230-acre...

Amusement and theme parks

Universal Studios Hollywood, the tour and theme park on the Universal City property, has been marking its 50th anniversary for the better part of a year now.But the ever-growing tourist attraction can trace its DNA all the way back to March 15, 1915, when studio boss Carl Laemmle invited the public to the grand opening of his moviemaking metropolis, Universal City. As long as they were there, he even gave them a chance to watch films being produced (and a fake flood his technicians...

Movies & TV

Compared to last year’s “Maleficent” and Stephen Sondheim’s subversive “Into the Woods,” or even Tim Burton’s weird 2010 film “Alice in Wonderland,” Disney’s latest live-action version of one of its classic fairy-tale cartoons is a pretty straightforward interpretation.The Kenneth Branagh-directed “Cinderella” adds a little political intrigue, fashion-forward 19th century designs and a patina of...

Movies & TV

Dev Patel, the 24-year-old British actor who was catapulted to international stardom by the unlikely 2008 Oscar winner “Slumdog Millionaire,” has certainly made the most out of his big break.This week he has two major movies opening, shot in different parts of the world — and, considering their stories and tones, what might as well be two different worlds.“The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” is the sequel to the 2011 comedy about Indian...

Celebrity deaths

Leonard Nimoy, whose half-alien “Star Trek” character Mr. Spock was a pop culture icon, died in his Bel Air home Friday from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The actor, director, writer, poet, photographer and recording artist was 83.“I loved him like a brother,” said William Shatnerin a statement following news of Nimoy’s death. “We will all miss his humor, his talent, and his capacity to love.”Shatner...